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Judge calls Merrimack woman's injuries among most awful he's seen

MERRIMACK -- A Nashua man is under arrest for allegedly beating his mother so severely that it caused a ruptured eye socket, severed ear and major head laceration.

Police say Thomas Foden, 39, of 57 Tyler St., Apt. 409, Nashua, took a cab to his mother's Merrimack residence at 50 Pondview Drive Sunday night, forced his way into the home and allegedly attacked her.

Foden's mother, Alicia J. Flanders, 66, was found by police covered in blood in the backyard of her residence holding a gardening tool.

Her son, Foden, had called police to report the crime and admitted to authorities that he assaulted his mother, according to court documents read during his arraignment Monday afternoon at Merrimack District Court.

"This case is everybody's worst nightmare," Melissa Kowalewski, prosecutor for the Merrimack Police Department, told the judge. Foden has been charged with three counts of second-degree assault and is being held on cash only bail.

According to Foden's defense attorney, Amanda Steenhuis, Foden was previously diagnosed with schizophrenia and has ongoing mental health issues. Both attorneys say Foden was released from Southern New Hampshire Medical Center about 24 to 36 hours prior to the assault on his mother.

Flanders is in stable condition but has been transferred from SNHMC to Massachusetts General Hospital because of the extent of her injuries. "These pictures are some of the most awful pictures I've ever seen," Judge Clifford Kinghorn said while looking at photographs of Flanders' injuries. "My heart goes out to that mother."